Barack Obama sticks to jobs message at G-20 summit

President Barack Obama’s press conference Friday at the G-20 Summit in Cannes, France, illustrated his struggle to exert influence over two potentially pivotal forces to the U.S. economic recovery and his political future: congressional Republicans blocking action on his jobs proposals and European leaders fumbling to address a Greek debt crisis that’s roiling the world economy.

Obama pointed to new jobs numbers that showed the economy created a modest 80,000 jobs last month and unemployment ticked down slightly but remained stubbornly high at 9.0 percent. He said Congress needs to stop blocking proposals to jump-start U.S. business.

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Obama at G-20 Summit

POLITICO 44

The president’s question-and-answer session lasted just over 20 minutes and included only four questions from journalists. Throughout, he used the economic crisis in Europe to pivot back to his American Jobs Act.

“My hope is that the folks back home — including those in the United States Senate and House of Representatives — when they look at today’s job numbers, which were up but indicate once again that the economy is growing way too slow, that they think twice before they vote no again on a proposal that economists say would actually make a dent in unemployment,” Obama said.

The Senate has tried to vote on the jobs bill in full and on two components of it — funding for teachers and first responders, and support for infrastructure construction — but those measures have been blocked by all Senate Republicans and a few Democrats.

Obama said Friday that Congress needs to “break out of the rigidity of ideological positions that they’ve been taking” and to “set politics aside” to solve the country’s economic problems.

House Republicans said the evidence that high unemployment is continuing highlights the numbers of job-spurring proposals they’ve put forward that have been waylaid in the Senate.

“Today’s report underscores the need for immediate action on the more than 15 bipartisan, common-sense House-passed jobs bills that are piled up at Senate Democrats’ door,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement, referring to bills that the GOP says will create jobs but that Democrats doubt will do so. “Senate Democrats are out of excuses and the president must call on them to act. The House has voted to remove government obstacles to desperately needed jobs — and we’ve done it in a bipartisan way.”

Obama wouldn’t wager on what the state of the economy might be a year from now, when he faces reelection. “The least of my concerns at the moment is the politics of a year from now. I’m worried about putting people back to work right now, because those folks are hurting and the U.S. economy is underperforming,” he said.

“Wherever Republicans indicate an interest in doing things that will actually grow the economy, I’m right there with them,” he said, citing patent reform and trade bills with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. While those bills are “nice and significant … we’ve got to do something bolder and more significant,” like passing his $447 billion jobs bill.

On the European crisis, Obama stopped short of saying that he is confident that European leaders are on the verge of solving the crisis caused by market fears that Greece could default on its debt and endanger banks across the Continent.

Will the press cover the fact that the President is demonizing the Republicans to the WORLD? Instead of having a United country, Obama is doing everything in his power to divide it. And now he has taken it to the world stage.

What about the rumor that none of the G20 participants are interested in what Obama, the $13 trillion deficit king and pawn of the People's Republic of China has to say? And how about that bogus 9% unemployment number? I mean, seriously, who bel;ieves that garbage?

Hateful conservatives will meet reality of their actions in 2012 elections. With their obstructionist actions in congress they will be wiped out come 2011. Obama has stopped the economy from losing over 600,000 jobs a month when he took office and the economy has being adding jobs for over a year now. Even small, jobs are being added. The USA is once more respected around the world and that is Obama doing. Keep your hate coming GOP conservatives and your hate of Obama will consume you.

He should just give it up and go back home till after the election. Even Bill Clinton admitted today that he disagreed with Obama and his jobs package. Steve Jobs, before he died told Obama he would be a one time president because of the regulations he put in! Doyou think the Libs and Dems realize what a goof this man truly is?

Obama is the most worthless president in US history. He uses taxpayer money to go to the G20 where he has nothing to contribute and only went because of his EGO. He should have stayed home. No one in the G20 is going to pay any attention on his advice about Europe. He hasn't learned yet when to shut up. His views at the G20 were unimportant, irrelevant and unwanted. What a waste of taxpayer money to go on an Ego trip to Europe.

What ever happened to the wise sayings . Measure twice Cut once , Live within your means , Cut your cloth to your measure. You don't need a PhD from Cambridge , Harvard, Sorbonne, Tsinghau Univ. etc to understand and apply any of above sayings. The C-20 is a world class boondoggle that wastes $millions dollars of taxpayers money, and achieves nothing useful for any country's economy. Where did common sense go to ?

Hey Barry, the Europeans have been trying socialism for the past 30 years. That is why they are broke! Maybe you should you listen to them and stop the wasteful tax and spending and the crony socialism!

Germany, the country that laughed at Obama's demand that they join in the spending frenzy of Stimuls packages is the country most rapidly recovering from the recssion and the country that Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal are depending on to keep them afloat until they can recover from their overspending.

Obama is now going to the G20 and hoping to get them to help him push the spending and government expansion programs that have failed so miserably in Europe and in the US. The man has completely lost touch with reality.

"The Senate has tried to vote on the jobs bill in full and on two components of it — funding for teachers and first responders, and support for infrastructure construction — but those measures have been blocked by all Senate Republicans and a few Democrats."

Seriously. How difficult is it to simply report the facts? The republicans filibustered the Motion to Proceed requiring a sixty vote super majority to even commence a floor debate. The democrats have 53 votes (one red state democrat and one bitter independent voted with the GOP). All of this to say that nine republicans would have to break ranks with Mitch McConnell to overcome the GOP initiated filibuster.

A more accurate (and informative) way to structure the quoted paragraph would be to say:

"The Senate has tried to vote on the jobs bill in full and on two components of it--funding for teachers and first responders, and support for infrastructure construction--but those measures have been blocked by a GOP requirement that sixty votes are needed to bring the measures to the floor."